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Business

14 December, 2021

Push to tap into valued business events sector

The highly lucrative business events industry will be the target of a new campaign by the region’s leading tourism body.


Photo: Pexels
Photo: Pexels

Council has committed to provide Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ) with $300,000 this financial year to help attract national and international business events to Cairns. 

TTNQ’s Subvention Funding Program aims to support the recovery of the tourism industry by generating increased aviation demand and tapping into the high-value business events sector. 

The program will also look to capitalise on the expansion and upgrade of the Cairns Convention Centre, which will have the capacity to double the number of conferences hosted annually. 

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia’s business events sector had been growing at around 6% annually since 2014, directly contributing over $35 billion nationally in economic activity in 2019 and employing over 229,000 people across a broad range of industries. 

The sector was unfortunately one of the first to be impacted by the pandemic and is expected to be one of the last to recover due to long lead times. 

TTNQ has identified the sector as highly valuable, with visitor expenditure of a business event delegate ($430) per day almost twice that of a leisure visitor ($230). 

Business events also drive year-round visitation and enhance the profile of the region through hosting national and international events of economic importance.

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